Stalker
An effective warrior wielding both skill and stealth, the stalker is a martial disciple who battles in the deep shadows and the hidden underworld of night. Through rigorous training and deep, intuitive instincts, the stalker is a trained killer whose very art is considered illegal in some places. Part mystic, part warrior, and part assassin, the stalker’s arts are varied, but always deadly. Adventures: Stalkers adventure for many reasons, but most do so either as part of a guild of fellow stalkers on a mission, for money and profit, or for deeper, often darker purposes of the heart. Some adventure for the test of their skill, but this is slightly rarer; whatever the reason, the path of the stalker is often a self-absorbed one. Characteristics: Stalkers universally are very introspective people, they rely so heavily upon their intuitive reactions to situations and their heightened reflexes through athletic skill that they usually have an air of detachment. Some are braggarts, but many are quiet and calm, paying close attention to their surroundings should they need to use their lethal skills. Alignment: Any. Stalkers do not lean to any particular alignment trend, running the gamut of all walks of life. Religion: Some stalkers are deeply religious, finding solace in their meditations to gods of night, death, travels, or revelry. Other stalkers find no use for gods, for if the gods protected and cared for their flock, then they wouldn’t make their followers so easy to kill. Background: Stalkers often arise from the poor and underprivileged who live in city slums, trained from their youth to be unfeeling killers. Others are trained in remote areas in a more monastic fashion, taught to be warriors who strike from the shadows. The training of stalkers can also be an individual thing, each master teaching a student in their own way, the way they were taught. Races: Humans and outcast races tend to be drawn to the path of the stalker. Half-orcs and half-elves make up a majority of the non-human stalkers, with goblinoids coming in next. Other Classes: Stalkers get on well with rogues and rangers due to having complementary roles. Paladins and clerics often chafe when partied with stalkers, as their reputation as killers (rightly or wrongly) often sours opinions of them. Other classes generally have a neutral opinion of stalkers, unless that stalker has come for them. Role: Striker. In the party, the stalker follows the heavily armored fighterinto combat, using them as shields and distractions so they can inflict maximum damage on their foes. In addition, the stalker can serve quite well as the party scout, finding danger and warning the party before they stumble upon it. Abilities: Dexterity and Wisdom are prime attributes for stalkers, as many of their skills are governed by these abilities and their combat capabilities are augmented by them as well. Wisdom is the primary initiating attribute for stalker. Strength is valuable for damage, but can fall behind Constitution for endurance in battle.Starting Wealth: 4d6 x 10 gp (average 140 gp). Starting Age: Trained Hit Die: d8 Class Skills: The stalker’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are: Acrobatics (Dex), Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Disable Device (Dex), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (martial) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Stealth (Dex). Skill Ranks per Level: 6 + Int modifier Class Features All of the following are class features of the stalker. Weapon and Armor Proficiency Stalkers are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light armor. Stalkers are not proficient with shields of any kind. Maneuvers A stalker begins his career with knowledge of six martial maneuvers. The disciplines available to him are Broken Blade, Solar Wind, Steel Serpent, Thrashing Dragon, Veiled Moon, and either Riven Hourglass or Tempest Gale. If he does not have that discipline’s associated skill as a class skill, he gains it as a class skill. Once he knows a maneuver, he must ready it before he can use it (see Maneuvers Readied, below). A maneuver usable by stalkers is considered an extraordinary ability unless otherwise noted in its description. His maneuvers are not affected by spell resistance, and he does not provoke attacks of opportunity when he initiates one. He learns additional maneuvers at higher levels, as shown above. The stalker must meet a maneuver’s prerequisite to learn it. See the Systems and Use chapter. Upon reaching initiator level 4th, and at every even numbered initiator level thereafter (6th, 8th, 10th, and so on), the stalker can choose to learn a new maneuver in place of one he already knows. In effect, the stalker loses the old maneuver in exchange for the new one. The stalker need not replace the old maneuver with a maneuver of the same level. He can choose a new maneuver of any level he likes, as long as he observes his restriction on the highest-level maneuvers he knows. The stalker can swap only a single maneuver at any given level. A stalker’s initiator modifier is Wisdom. Maneuvers Readied A stalker can ready four of his six starting maneuvers, but as he advances in level and learns more maneuvers, he must choose which maneuvers to ready. He readies his maneuvers by meditating and focusing his ki for 10 minutes. The maneuvers he chooses remain readied until he decides to repeat this again and change them. Stalkers do not need to sleep or be well rested to ready their maneuvers; any time he spends 10 minutes in meditation, he can change his readied maneuvers. He may not ready any individual maneuver more than once. He begins an encounter with all readied maneuvers unexpended, regardless of how many times he may have already used them since he chose them. When the stalker initiates a maneuver, he expends it for the current encounter, so each of his readied maneuvers can be used once per encounter (until they are recovered, see below). Stalkers may recover their maneuvers in one of two ways. The stalker may either center his awareness of the combat momentarily as a standard action and recover a single expended maneuver of his choice. Alternately, he may recover his stalker initiation modifier in expended maneuvers (min of 2) as a full round action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, centering his spirit completely to re-align his perceptions of the battle and change his place in it. When recovering his maneuvers in this way, he may move up to his base speed and adds a +4 insight bonus to his Armor Class as his ki defends his form while he re-centers himself. In addition, the next attack he makes this encounter adds his deadly strike damage if it hits. Stances Known Stalkers begin play with knowledge of one stance from any discipline open to stalkers. At the indicated levels (see class table), the stalker selects an additional new stance. Unlike maneuvers, stances are not expended and he does not have to ready them. All the stances he knows are available to him at all times, and he can change the stance he is currently using as a swift action. A stance is an extraordinary ability unless otherwise stated in the stance description. Unlike with maneuvers, the stalker cannot learn a new stance at higher levels in place of one he already knows. Ki Pool (Su) At 1st level, a stalker gains a pool of ki points, supernatural energy he can use to accomplish amazing feats. The number of points in the stalker’s ki ''pool is equal to 1/2 her stalker level + his stalker initiation modifier (minimum of 1). At 1st level, the stalker may spend 1 point of ''ki to grant himself a +4 insight bonus to a single Perception or Sense Motive check as an immediate action, as he uses his ki to feel out the vibrations of others and their hidden motives. At 5th level, the stalker may use his deadly strikes in conjunction with his combat insight to “read” his opponent’s defenses and deliver devastating blows beyond his foe’s guard. The stalker spends one point of ki as a swift action to read his target opponent, and may apply his deadly strike to all martial strikes initiated by the stalker for a number of rounds equal to his stalker initiation modifier against this target. If the stalker scores a successful critical hit against the target while this ability is active, then he activates deadly strike as normal. At 7th level, the stalker may spend 1 point from his ki pool to gain a +4 insight bonus on a saving throw as an immediate action. At 9th level, the stalker can delve into his subconscious in battle and remember key lessons from his training. The stalker envisions potential scenarios where martial abilities he has not readied come into play and gains a momentary burst of martial insight. A number of times per day equal to his stalker initiation modifier, the stalker can spend one ki point as a swift action and trade one readied maneuver for another maneuver known of the same level or lower. The new maneuver is immediately readied and accessible for use. The character may initiate this maneuver and recover it as if he had prepared at the beginning of the day (or when ever the stalker readied his maneuvers last) until the end of the combat encounter. The ki pool is replenished each day after 8 hours of rest and meditation; these hours do not need to be consecutive. If the stalker possesses levels in another class that grants points to a ki pool, stalker levels stack with the levels of that class to determine the total number of ki points in the combined pool, but only one ability score modifier is added to the total. The choice of which score to use is made when the second class ability is gained, and once made, the choice is set. The stalker can now use ki ''points from this pool to power the abilities of every class he possesses that grants a ''ki pool. Deadly Strike (Ex) The stalker is capable of maximizing his deadliness whenever he lands a critical blow upon his opponent, opening his target up for future punishment as the stalker becomes attuned to his prey. Whenever the stalker scores a successful critical hit against a creature, his deadly strike ability activates against that creature for a number of rounds equal to his stalker initiation modifier. Deadly strike inflicts extra damage, to only this target creature, on all of the stalker’s attacks. This extra damage is 1d6 at 1st level, and increases by 1d6 for every four stalker levels thereafter. When the stalker scores a critical hit, this extra damage is not multiplied, it is simply added to the damage. If the stalker scores a successful critical hit during the time his deadly strike is active, the duration of this ability is extended by one round (no more than one extension can be made per round). Ranged attacks can count as deadly strikes only if the target is within 30-ft.. Deadly strike is more effective with weapons with higher critical multipliers, such as scythes and battle axes. Weapons with a x3 critical multiplier inflict damage with deadly strikes using a d8 instead of a d6, and weapons with a critical multiplier of x4 use d10’s. Damage multipliers higher than x4 use d10’s for deadly strikes damage. Deadly strike may not be used with weapons that inflict non-lethal damage. The stalker must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. Creatures immune to critical hits or precision damage cannot be targeted by a deadly strike. A stalker cannot deadly strike while attacking a creature who has concealment. Combat Insight (Su) At 2nd level, the keen senses and awareness of the stalker delivers him a sort of sixth sense. This insight performs as an intuitive alarm, alerting him of danger. Through his rigorous practice and learning to trust his instincts and intuition to an unearthly level, the senses of the stalker are unusually sharp. At 2nd level, the stalker’s combat sense opens his third eye, granting him defensive reflexes that protect him in combat. The stalker may add his stalker initiation modifier to his initiative score and to Reflex saving throws as an insight bonus. At 4th level, the heightened perceptions of the stalker allow him to know when his prey could get the jump on him, granting him the uncanny dodge class feature (see rogue class for details). At 8th level, the killer’s instinct in the stalker is honed to a razor’s fine edge, allowing him to add his stalker initiation modifier as a competence bonus to confirm critical hits. This ability counts as if the character possessed the Critical Focus feat, and for the purposes of taking critical feats that the character qualifies for. The character may not select the Critical Focus feat once he has this ability, and should he have it before he gains this ability, he loses the Critical Focus feat and may select a critical feat in its place. At 12th level, the stalker’s insight allows him to funnel the ki of his foes into his form with his deadly attacks. The character can recover a single expended maneuver when he scores a successful critical hit against a living creature. This ability does not function against constructs, undead, or creatures with under 1/2 HD. At 18th level, the heightened precognitive abilities of the stalker manifest in his ability to sense things around him that others cannot, granting him blindsight of 30-ft.. This is a supernatural ability. Dodge Bonus (Ex) The stalker’s heightened perception of danger allows him to defend himself from attacks as they are made against him, anticipating the attacks as they come. A stalker gains a +1 dodge bonus to his Armor Class at 2nd level, which improves by an additional +1 every four stalker levels thereafter. When recovering maneuvers as a full round action, the character may add his stalker initiation modifier to his AC as an additional dodge bonus; his defensive precognition being heightened by centering his ki through maneuver recovery. Stalker Arts As a stalker gains experience, he learns a number of arts that aid him and confound his foes. Starting at 1st level, a stalker gains one art; he gains an additional art at 3rd level and new arts every four class levels attained after 3rd level. A stalker cannot select an individual art more than once (unless noted). Stalker arts can be found here. Blending (Su) At 6th level the stalker’s natural attunement to the flow of ki in other people grants him insight in reading others and avoiding their notice. The character gains a +2 insight bonus to Perception, Sense Motive and Stealth checks. At 16th level, the stalker’s abilities improve further, and the character is permanently under the effects of a pass without trace spell. Dual Strike (Ex) Once per day at 10th level, the stalker’s deadly skill in combat improves, allowing him to initiate two martial strikes as a full round action. The strikes the stalker initiates must have an initiation action of one standard action, and he must have both strikes readied. Boosts may not be applied to a dual strike due to the need to concentrate on two separate martial movements. When a dual strike is used, the action must be declared beforehand when used, both strikes are resolved separately and are expended. At 14th level the character may use dual strike twice per day, and three times per day at 18th level. Retributive Ki (Su) At 20th level, the stalker’s mystical ki power allows for him to generate a powerful burst of energy to gain retribution on those who would injure him. When the stalker is harmed by an attack, spell, or ability of an enemy, as an immediate action he may spend two ki points to initiate a martial strike that he has readied (with an initiation action of one standard action) in retaliation against that attack. He uses the range of the attacker’s ability as the range of his strike, creating a phantom echo of himself with his ki (as with the phantom reach art) that rushes out and strikes his attacker if they are outside of the stalker’s normal reach. Use of this ability expends his strike as normal, and the strike functions as normal otherwise. Favored Class Bonuses * Aellar: Gain 1/6 of a new stalker art. * Any goblinoid race: Gain 1/4 of a stalker art. * Atstreidi: '''Gain 1/6 of a stalker art. * '''Blinkling: +1/4 ki point per level. * Blue: Gain 1/4 of a stalker art. * Dreige: Add 1/6 of a new stalker art. * Dromite: Add +1/4 to insight bonus to AC when the stalker recovers maneuvers. * Duergar: Add +1/2 point to the stalker’s ki pool. * Dwarves: Add +1/4 to insight bonus to AC when the stalker recovers maneuvers. * Elves: Gain a +1/5 dodge bonus to AC. * Gnome: Gain 1/4 of a stalker art. * Half-elf: Gain 1/4 of a stalker art. * Half-gnoll: '''Add +1/4 of a d6 to deadly strike damage. * '''Half-goblin: '''Add +1/6 of a new stalker art. * '''Half-orc: Add +1/4 of a maneuver known from the Broken Blade or Steel Serpent disciplines. * Half-sahuagin: '''Add +1/6 of a d6 of the stalker’s deadly strike. * '''Halfling: Gain a +1/5 dodge bonus to AC. * Houri: '''Add +1/3 ''ki ''point. * '''Human: Add +1/2 point to the stalker’s ki pool. * Kestrel: '''Add +1/2 racial bonus on Stealth checks. * '''Kijin: '''Gain +1/6 of a new stalker art. * '''Lasher: '''Gain +1/6 of a new stalker art. * '''Lurker: Add +1/6 of an extra Deadly Strike die. * Merg: '''Add +1/6 of a new Deadly Strike die. * '''Murk: '''Add +1/6 of an extra deadly strikes die. * '''Oggr: '''Add +1/4 maneuvers known from the Broken Blade or Thrashing Dragon disciplines. These maneuvers must be at least one level below the highest level of maneuvers the stalker can learn. * '''Ophiduan: Add +1/4 of a maneuver known from the Steel Serpent or Veiled Moon disciplines. * Rana: 'Add +1/4 racial bonus to Stealth checks. * '''Spring Child: '''Add +1/2 to the stalker’s ''ki ''pool. * '''Sthein: '+1/4 maneuver known of the Steel Serpent or Thrashing Dragon disciplines. These maneuvers must be at least one level below the highest level of maneuvers the stalker can learn. * '''Tiefling: Gain 1/4 of a stalker art. * '''Wulfkin: '''Gain 1/6 of a new stalker art. Archetypes Brutal Slayer Bushi Judge Privateer Soul Hunter Vigilante Category:Source: Path of War